Own vs. Rent

[MagicKingdom05]

cgcw hit it on the head. Last April I bought my first home (condo) after renting for years thanking that was the best way to go, but once I saw after just one year what a difference owning has on you tax return, I was sold. Also the fact that I was able to adopt the two fur girls below with out having to worry about a pet deposit and pet rent, made it that much easier.

 

[poohtown]

we own now. we bought our house, paid it off, and have been saving for a few years now. Looking at selling and buying something new now. It's nice to be able to pay every month and then have something to show for it.

 

[katerkat]

We "rent" and I go between hating it and liking it. We live in military housing, so the house is the cost of our BAH. Which, unfortunately, went up in January and will go up when DH is promoted next year - and the house doesn't get any bigger! When we got here we could only have gotten a small 2-bedroom apartment; by the time we leave, we can afford a nice 3-bedroom house. So I definitely feel like we're throwing money away on this one.

It's nice, though, in that maintenance is always available. (It being military, it's there on holidays too.) They came out and took care of the evil ocket gophers and we can get mouse traps and such free from the self help store. We know all the neighbors and it's a safe place. It's not a bad house (though not a good one either), and it was available for us to move in right when we got here.

But, on the other hand - you want to talk about stict HOAs!

We're DEFINITELY buying the next time we move, and have started planning and saving for it. (Unless we're sent overseas... But we're hoping for Florida!)

 

[Crankyshank]

I'm amazed at the number of people that think they can just walk right in and buy a 4000sq ft house right away and fully furnish it. Foreclosures are up 44% in my area because of this crazy thought. I never understood it.

I have an 1180sq ft home built in 1940 and needs work. Sure it's tiny, but there are things that we can do to increase space before we have children. We bought it for $150k with no money down thanks to the VA and 2yrs later it's worth $243k without us doing anything to increase the value ourselves. Rent was costing us almost as much as the mortgage and we had nothing to show for it.

Sure it's a starter home in every sense of the word, but it's mine and there's just something satisfying about little projects you complete in your own home.

 

[summerrluvv]

I rent because there is no way on earth I could afford to buy a house on Long Island. I live in a luxury complex (although with the people that have been moving in lately, it doesn't feel so luxurious anymore). I hang up whatever pictures I want, I have painted rooms, changed out the chrome sink in the kitchen to be porcelain, changed shower heads, etc. I just have to put it all back the way it was when I moved in. Not a big deal IMO considering how much nicer it looks with some paint on the walls. I'm sure most landlords don't have a problem with paint as long as you put it back the way it was.

 

[mudnuri]

I rent because he got the house

approx 1500 sq foot 4 bedroom, 1 bath, living, dining kitchen. Brand new appliances. Plowing, rubbish included in rent.

$600.00 a month

I couldnt buy a house here for that

Brandy

 

[reedycreek]

I rent because there is no way on earth I could afford to buy a house on Long Island. I live in a luxury complex (although with the people that have been moving in lately, it doesn't feel so luxurious anymore). I hang up whatever pictures I want, I have painted rooms, changed out the chrome sink in the kitchen to be porcelain, changed shower heads, etc. I just have to put it all back the way it was when I moved in. Not a big deal IMO considering how much nicer it looks with some paint on the walls. I'm sure most landlords don't have a problem with paint as long as you put it back the way it was.

which complex on LI do live in, an AVALON?

 

[summerrluvv]

which complex on LI do live in, an AVALON?

Not an Avalon. Those look nice though! I see they built a new one in Coram which looks pretty nice.

 

[luv2nascar]

we rented for 8 yrs when we were engaged and first married. We rented from a relative for pretty low rate and rent didn't increase. We stayed for too long and it became a bad situation. We moved much to late. We bought our first home three years ago. Renting is okay for people who can not afford to buy or will be moving relatively soon.

 

[reedycreek]

Not an Avalon. Those look nice though! I see they built a new one in Coram which looks pretty nice.

the ones in coram are really nice, i like them a lot, but coram is too far from westbury (where i work). i wound up in smithtown. i know what you mean about high prices on LI though, houses are just insane here.

 

[reedycreek]

I rent because he got the house

approx 1500 sq foot 4 bedroom, 1 bath, living, dining kitchen. Brand new appliances. Plowing, rubbish included in rent.

$600.00 a month

I couldnt buy a house here for that

Brandy

wow thats a good deal on rent, not sure where in the country you are. on long island i get a 1 b/r, 1 bath, upstairs loft, 975 sq feet, new apartment for $1925! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

 

[summerrluvv]

wow thats a good deal on rent, not sure where in the country you are. on long island i get a 1 b/r, 1 bath, upstairs loft, 975 sq feet, new apartment for $1925! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

WOW! Those are more expensive than mine! I pay $1745 for 2 bedrooms, 2 bath and a loft and I thought that was a lot.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

We're north of Boston and get a 3 BR (a very large 3 BR) with high ceilings, living room, den, large dining room, kitchen pantry, private screen porch, garage, large backyard, private laundry room (we don't pay for use of the machines), basement storage room (large enough to hold virtually all our furniture if we wanted) for $850

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

See, I think this makes all the difference in the world.

We rent.

We put nails the walls. We paint the walls. We put down our own carpet. We have two bouncy Jack Russell Terriers and a fish tank. We have a garden. We have our own stuff on the lawn. We have our own stuff in the yard. We have our own large storage room in the basement. We have our own large section of a large garage.

Our LL doesn't care either, as long as we pay the rent on time and the house still stands when we go. We don't even have a lease.

That's another reason we rent. LL is totally cool. The house looks better now than it did when we moved in. We took out the 1920's horse and fox wallpaper and painted. They are cool with the cats and dog.

 

[reedycreek]

WOW! Those are more expensive than mine! I pay $1745 for 2 bedrooms, 2 bath and a loft and I thought that was a lot.

what town is that in?

 

[summerrluvv]

what town is that in?

Farmingville

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Both our parents were renters while we were growing up, so renting is sort of in our blood.

My parents divorced the year we married. They had lived in the same rental almost my entire life (like 18-20 years). After the divorce both parents remarried. My Dad bought a mobile home with help from his mother a few years later and when she passed away her home was willed to him. My mother still rents, and probably always will at this stage in her life.

DH parents lived in a number of rentals when he was a child. They moved in to a house with DFIL's mother when his father passed. DH's GP had a farm that was sold to buy the brick Cape Cod style home where they now live. The house was willed to DFIL upon her passing and since DH is an only child their house will be willed to us one day.

We have been renters for 15+ years and twice have tried to buy, but our credit has prevented us from actually making the purchase. As we contemplate ownership again in the next year I wonder how we can afford it in today's market. Homes in our price range are either in undesirable neighborhoods/schools or are too small or require too much work.

Our rent is low (considering available options) and includes heat & hot water, water/sewer and trash removal and our landlord for the past three years has been great. Plus - I like the fact that we're not responsible for major repairs. It's nice to pick up the phone and make it someone else's problem, though I feel really guilty when there seems to be a rash of problems in a short time period.

For now we are looking at moving to another rental, in a suburb or rural area (currently inside city limits/city schools and not happy)

 

[swilphil]

If you want the best of both worlds, consider buying a condo/townhome where they do all of the outside maintenance, including the roof. I was able to buy a condo that had a mortgage and maintenance fee that were still less than the neighboring apt. complex's rent. The best part about buying is that when you go to sell, you can make a nice chunk of change on it. Of course, if you live in a part of the country where home prices are extremely high, renting is the way to go, especially if you don't want to stay in one place for several years.

 

[m&m's mom]

A tale of 2 friends:
16 years ago I was 2 years out of college and engaged to my DH. We lived in the same apartment complex as our best friends.
We were looking at houses to buy in Flower Mound - then a very small N. Dallas suburb.
My DH's client owed him a couple of thousand dollars that DH had basically blown off. Well he knew we were looking in Flower Mound. The client had a house that his brother was living in that he said we could take over payments and move right in. Well, the house was OK, a little less than we were looking for but we thought we would live there a few years and then move up.
Well, 15 years later (exactly a year ago this week) we finally moved from that house. We loved it!
In that 15 years our house payment was less than our friends rent in that apartment complex we all lived in. We enjoyed the tax advantages over the years, we were in Exemplary schools, we had a house double the size of the apartment, 2 car garage, beautiful garden etc.
When we sold a year ago we walked away w/ over $75,000 in equity and increased home value.
We put that in our new house (4 bedroom, 3 bath, hardwood floors, big granite kitchen, upgrades everywhere and after our downpayment our house payment is only $300.00 more a month than the tiny apartment our friends still live in.
This is even in an area that has grown but not exploded in home value.

 

[gshoemate]

We rent and always have but I would love to own. We just were never sure where we wanted to settle but now that we have been in Florida for almost 3 years, we wouldn't want to be any place else. So hopefully in the next few years we will look into buying.